Perhaps It Was When I Met You
by TeamFreeBagels
Summary: Three rules: Love the water, and it will love you back. Respect the creatures that live in it, and they will respect you. And above all, never venture towards the surface. (Mermaid!Haru, Fem!HaruxRin)
1. Breaking The Surface

This just kinda came to me and I had to do it. Enjoy!

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_ The water is alive. Once you dive in, it will immediately bare its fangs and attack. But, there's nothing to fear. Don't resist the water. Thrust your fingers into the surface and carve an opening. Then you slide your body through that opening. Moving your arms, your head, your chest..._

_ All I want is to feel the water. With my skin, my eyes, my soul... To never doubt what it makes me feel. Believe in myself. Don't resist the water. Welcome it. We accept one another..._

_ I wonder when that thinking suddenly was no longer enough. Perhaps it was when I met you... _

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___ "Love the water, and it will love you back.  
Respect the creatures that live in it, and they will respect you.  
And above all, never venture towards the surface.  
"These are the three rules we merpeople must follow at all times. They are more common sense than anything. So obvious; so simple; and so tempting to break. Take care that you never do."_

Haruka had heard these words more times than anything else throughout her life since the day she was born. And she agreed, they were common sense.

To love the very thing which gives you the ability to live was only natural. To respect the creatures that provided company and sustenance was only right. And to never approach the edge of your very own world, well, she didn't really care. All Haruka wanted to do was swim. And past that edge, past that thin divider between air and water, she couldn't do the very thing she was designed to do. Swim. Therefore, she didn't fret about never being allowed to see the mysterious world of people with things called legs and birds that flew high in something called a sky that stories told of. It didn't matter.

Why fly when you could swim?

Yet, here she was, unknowingly chasing a dolphin further up and up until she could feel the water she loved so much becoming lighter and warmer, and see rays of sunlight shining through and making the tiny blue scales of her tail glitter like a pearl. Not realizing how far she had come until the playful dolphin seemed to vanish through a thin veil, only to come crashing back through in an explosion of bubbles.

Haruka froze mere feet from the surface, her brow furrowing in confusion and slight fear as her long, black hair floated around her. The dolphin danced and circled, asking why she wasn't playing anymore, but she didn't answer. She was mesmerized. Through the thin veil, Haruka could see a blinding light like none she had ever seen before. It shone in a giant sphere right above it.

Haruka knew she should turn back. Knew she should tell her new friend she had to go home. But she couldn't. Haruka didn't know why, but for some reason she wanted to see what that light looked like from the other side.

_ And above all, never venture towards the surface._

Never before had Haruka ever thought of breaking the most important rule ever givin for her and her people to follow, but as she slowly reached a small hand above her head towards the veil deviding her world from the one above, reaching for that shining sphere, that rule became only a dull sound in the very back of her mind.

The tips of her fingers broke through, then her wrist, soon her elbow, and finally her head and shoulders. And she stared, hand reached out towards this so-called sky that she had only ever heard about in stories. Beautiful couldn't even begin to describe what was running through her mind in that moment.

Haruka's thoughts were disrupted, however, by her new friend nudging her side and making its little dolphin noise, asking why she was so interested in the sky. She blinked and looked down, lowering her arm. It was then something else hit her as well. Haruka could still breathe despite being above water.

How, Haruka didn't know, but it was interesting.

The dolphin splashed and swam past her, telling her to follow. Haruka turned to ensue and her blue eyes widened at what she saw.

There were structures of all sizes covering a large stretch of land. Haruka couldn't even begin to guess what everything was. It was amazing. The dolphin called once more and she swam over beside it at a very large, rectangular slab of smooth stone protruding from the water. Haruka hesitantly placed her hands on it to hold herself steady as she ogled amazed that these new sights. The dolphin laughed at Haruka's stunned reaction to the world above. She pouted and flicked it's nose. This caused to dolphin to merely laugh and splash off somewhere else, but she didn't mind. Haruka was too dumbfounded by all that she was seeing to care.

It was the sounds of yelling that brought Haruka out of her trance. Pulling her attention away from the new experience of watching a tree (she guessed that's what the tall plant was if the stories were anything to go by) blow in the wind and, well, wind, to see four boys coming towards her direction. They were laughing and, Haruka couldn't believe her eyes, they didn't have tails! They had-... legs! That's what those things were called. And they were-... running! They also wore strange clothing, but Haruka guessed that was to be expected since only the top half of the two species were similar.

As they ran along a good distance away and quickly passed her, the one with maroon hair slowly stopped and looked down at his... feet? Was that the word?

"What's wrong?!" One of his friends called back.

The boy with maroon hair looked up and yelled, "My shoe's untied! Go on ahead, I'll be there in a second!"

Nodding, his friends raced off while the boy knelt down and began tying his shoe. Whatever a shoe was, that is.  
Once done, the boy stood and was about to take off again when he noticed Haruka staring in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and they locked eyes for a moment. Gasping in surprise, Haruka ducked her head below the stone slab. She hadn't meant to be seen. Humans supposedly didn't know about merpeople, right? That's one of the reasons why going to the surface wasn't allowed. Haruka could dive back into the water, but she'd already been seen. What if he came over and found she wasn't there, or perhaps even saw the outline of a girl with a fish tail swimming away? That wouldn't be suspicious at _all_. Best to just keep her lower half hidden and hope for the best.

Haruka's rapid thoughts were interrupted by a curious voice above her. "What are you doing?"

Snapping her head up, Haruka was met intense wine red eyes that seemed to hold her captive. She realized she hadn't said anything when the boy's face took on a look of confusion and spoke again. "Why are you swimming in the ocean? It's the middle of winter!"

Using all her courage, Haruka managed to finally say something. "...Huh?"

The boy only looked even more confused, and she couldn't blame him. Knitting his eyebrows and shifting his weight onto one foot, hands clasped behind his head, the boy took in Haruka's appearance. Well, what he could see of her, anyway. He broke into a grin when he noticed the two blue seashells held together by a string of blue pearls around her chest that served as her top. "What's with that swimsuit, you pretending to be a mermaid or something?!" He laughed, causing Haruka to almost choke.

Taking the defensive, she glared up at the boy. "I'm not pretending." She rebuked.

"Sure, sure!" The boy teased. Squating down so that he didn't have to look down so far, he grinned and said, "I'm Rin Matsuoka! I have a girly name, but I'm a boy. What's your name?"

"...Haruka."

"Haruka? Hmm... Haru it is, then! Nice to meet you, Haru!" This earned him another glare, but the boy, Rin, merely smiled wider, if that was possible, and continued. "I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new?" She nodded. "Really? Cool! You seem to be my age, too! How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Me too!"

Haruka couldn't quite grasp this boy. He was too excited for absolutely no reason and was loud. He was nosy, too. Plus he just have her a stupid nickname without her permission and proudly called his own name girly. Were all humans like this?

"Hey, Haru. Earth to Haru!" Rin was waving a hand in front of her face. Haruka pushed it away.

"What?" She snapped.

"I asked what school you went to,"

School? What's a school?

Haruka blinked and opened her mouth to ask what a school was when a voice sounded. "Rin! What's taking so long?!"

"Ah!" Rin gasped when he realized he forgot about his friends. "Coming!" He shouted back, before directing his attention to Haruka again. "Meet me here tomorrow, same time. See ya then!" He stood and had made it to shore when he turned back saying, "By the way, did you know your eyes are the same color as the ocean?" Before leaving with his three friends once and for all.

Haruka watched him leave, bemused. Same color as the ocean? The ocean was made up of water, and water was clear unless something added color to it. In other words, it could be any color. That boy was definitely weird.

Sighing, Haruka turned to return home herself when she noticed it. The ocean from above the surface. It was blue. The deepest and most beautiful blue Haruka had ever seen, and it glittered like a thousand gems.

_ Did you know your eyes are the same color as the ocean?_

Never before had Haruka's face turned so red so quickly as it had in that moment.

* * *

First chapter is finally done! I wrote this on my phone so I'm pretty sure I can't feel my thumbs anymore. Crap...


	2. Fish Tails

Haruka played with a lock of her hair, her mind wandering. It was only an hour until the human boy, Rin, said to meet him again. Should she go? It certainly wasn't wise. How could she be able to hide what she really was from the boy if he tried to get her out of the water? She couldn't, that's what. Yet for some reason she felt a strong urge to go, to see the sky once again and feel the warm breeze. To see the ocean from above the surface.

Closing her eyes and sighing, Haruka rolled on her side and curled into a ball, the bed of seaweed tickling her side.

"Haruka," said a voice from behind her. She ignored it. "Haruka, I know your awake."

Sighing once again, Haruka sat up and looked at her intruder. It was a young merboy with dark brown hair and teal eyes.

"What is it, Sousuke?" Haruka addressed the merboy, a little annoyed that she was disturbed.

Sousuke raised an eyebrow and lowered himself onto the seaweed next to her, the light-green scales of his tail shimmering in the water. "You've been quiet since you came back yesterday, well, more so than usual. Did something happen?"

Haruka studied the merboy for a few moments before her gaze slid past him and landed on the large coral reef that served as hers and Sousuke's home. It was beautiful and did its job well as a shelter. They even had two large oysters to sleep in. But Haruka couldn't help but think of the huge, solid buildings. Did the humans live in those? What were they like on the inside? Did they sleep in oysters, too? She had so many questions and no way to answer them. She let her eyes return to her closest friend.

"Have you ever been to the surface?" Haruka said this as casually as if commenting on the weather.

Sousuke looked at her as if she had two heads. "No; it's forbidden," then his eyes narrowed dangerously and he said, "Haruka, you didn't go up there, did you?"

Haruka almost said yes, but something stopped her. "I'm just curious,"

Still a little suspicious, Sousuke looked up into the seemingly endless vast of water, up towards where the surface lay. "I've never been up there, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious, either. But if the Elders heard us talking about it we'd be in trouble. Best not to dwell on things we'll never see, don't ya think?" He grinned, his eye's voicing a silent apology.

Despite knowing this was how it was going to end, Haruka couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Sousuke was somewhat of a troublemaker, and his reluctance to talk about something like the surface was puzzling. Slowly, Haruka pushed off the bed of seaweed and began to swim away.

"Where are you going?!" Sousuke called after her.

"Nowhere important."

Haruka stared up at the thin veil that separated sea and land. She wanted to breach it and see the sky again. Break the most important rule for a second time. Why, though? Didn't Haruka only care about swimming? Why then did she have such a strong desire to see the world above. To talk to that boy again... what was his name? Rin. Haruka wanted to talk to Rin and learn about his world. But she couldn't, not with this tail. No matter how much she wanted it...

Haruka gasped when she noticed her tail shining a radiant and blinding blue, and a burning, tingling sensation ran throughout her whole body. Then everything went black.

"Haru..." Who's voice was that? "Haru...!" So annoying... "Hey, Haru, are you alright?!" The owner of the voice was shaking her now.

Groaning, Haruka opened her eyes and was blinded by a bright light, immediately she closed them again.

"Haru?" The voice was softer now, concern seeped into it. A hand touched her shoulder. She looked up at its owner, letting her eyes adjust. A figure slowly came into focus. A boy with maroon hair and wine red eyes.

"Rin..."

"Haru!" Rin cried in relief, a smile breaking out across his face. "What happened? I found you passed out on the ground!"

Haruka furrowed her brow in confusion as she sat up, Rin helping her. The ground? What was he talking about? A sudden sense of panic surged through Haruka when she realized the situation she was in: She wasn't in water. Haruka quickly looked down at her tail, only to not find it. Instead she found two pale legs and feet, each completed with five toes of different sizes. She also noticed that instead of her seashells, she wore a light-blue dress that went down to just above her new-found knees. Haruka, a mermaid, had legs, feet, and toes! That was impossible! Only humans had these features as far as she knew. Could Haruka have turned into a human?

"I..." Haruka stuttered, unable to say anything. What was she going to do?!

Rin frowned. "Being barefoot and without a jacket in the middle of winter, not to mention swimming yesterday, no wonder you collapsed! C'mon, I'll take you home,"

Rin began to pull Haruka up but never having had legs before, she fell immediately. "I cant walk!" Haruka cried both afraid and desperately. This couldn't be happening. Yes, she had wanted to see the surface world, but turning into a human?! It was too much. She didn't even know how she did it!

Haruka wanted to go back, back to her oyster and coral reef and Sousuke. She wanted her blue fish tail back.

Rin looked almost as helpless as Haruka did. Worrying his bottom lip, Rin shrugged off his jacket and placed it around Haruka's shoulders. "Just tell me where you live and I'll take you. Okay, Haru? I'll take you home."

Haruka glared up at the boy. He couldn't take her home, it was hundreds of feet deep in the ocean, and neither him or her had fins! "I can't go home." She said at last.

Rin blinked. "Can't? But, won't your parents worry about you?"

It was Haruka's turn to blink. Parents? Merpeople didn't have parents. They were simply born. The Elders found the newborns and raised them. Mothers and fathers weren't necessary. Sousuke was the closest she had to family. Haruka frowned. So humans had parents, it seemed. That's fine. Merpeople we're the only ones to not have them, after all. "I don't have parents," she answered truthfully.

Rin's eyes widened. "So... you're an orphan?"

Orphan? Was this boy comparing her to a dolphin whose parents had died? "No, I just don't have any." She deadpanned.

Crossing his arms and scrunching his face, Rin gave a thoughtful hum. "Then it's decided," Rin declared, leaning in close and holding up a finger for emphasis. "You're coming home with me!"

... What?

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Hey, guys! Sorry it took so long for the second chapter. School and work has been killing me. Anyway, I hoped you liked it!


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